Stormy as were the early days of Tombstone nothing ever occurred equal
to the event of yesterday. Since the retirement of Ben Sippy as marshal
and the appointment of V.W. Earp to fill the vacancy the town has been
noted for its quietness and good order. The fractious and much dreaded
cowboys when they came to town were upon their good behaviour and no
unseemly brawls were indulged in, and it was hoped by our citizens that
no more such deeds would occur as led to the killing of Marshal White
one year ago. It seems that this quiet state of affairs was but the
calm that precedes the storm that burst in all its fury yesterday, with
this difference in results, that the lightning bolt struck in a
different quarter from the one that fell a year ago. This time it
struck with its full and awful force upon those who, heretofore, have
made the good name of this county a byword and a reproach, instead of
upon some officer in discharge of his duty or a peaceable and
unoffending citizen.

Since the arrest of Stilwell and Spence for the robbery of the
Bisbee stage, there have been oft repeated threats conveyed to the Earp
brothers -- Virgil, Morgan and Wyatt -- that the friends of the
accused, or in other words the cowboys , would get even with them for
the part they had taken in the pursuit and arrest of Stilwell and
Spence. The active part of the Earps in going after stage robbers,
beginning with the one last spring where Budd Philpot lost his life,
and the more recent one near Contention, has made them exceedingly
obnoxious to the bad element of this county and put their lives in
jeopardy every month.

Sometime Tuesday Ike Clanton came into town and during the
evening had some little talk with Doc Holliday and Marshal Earp but
nothing to cause either to suspect, further than their general
knowledge of the man and the threats that had previously been conveyed
to the Marshal, that the gang intended to clean out the Earps, that he
was thirsting for blood at this time with one exception and that was
that Clanton told the Marshal, in answer to a question, that the
McLowrys were in Sonora. Shortly after this occurrence someone came to
the Marshal and told him that the McLowrys had been seen a short time
before just below town. Marshal Earp, now knowing what might happen and
feeling his responsibility for the peace and order of the city, stayed
on duty all night and added to the police force his brother Morgan and
Holliday. The night passed without any disturbance whatever and at
sunrise he went home to rest and sleep. A short time afterwards one of
his brothers came to his house and told him that Clanton was hunting
him with threats of shooting him on sight. He discredited the report
and did not get out of bed. It was not long before another of his
brothers came down, and told him the same thing, whereupon he got up,
dressed and went with his brother Morgan uptown. They walked up Allen
Street to Fifth, crossed over to Fremont and down to Fourth, where,
upon turning up Fourth toward Allen, they came upon Clanton with a
Winchester rifle in his hand and a revolver on his hip. The Marshal
walked up to him, grabbed the rifle and hit him a blow on the head at
the same time, stunning him so that he was able to disarm him without
further trouble. He marched Clanton off to the police court where he
entered a complaint against him for carrying deadly weapons, and the
court fined Clanton $25 and costs, making $27.50 altogether. This
occurrence must have been about 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

The After-Occurrence
Close upon the heels of this came the finale, which is best told in the
words of R.F. Coleman who was an eye-witness from the beginning to the
end. Mr. Coleman says: I was in the O.K. Corral at 2:30 p.m., when I
saw the two Clantons and the two McLowrys in an earnest conversation
across the street in Dunbar's corral. I went up the street and notified
Sheriff Behan and told him it was my opinion they meant trouble, and it
was his duty, as sheriff, to go and disarm them. I told him they had
gone to the West End Corral. I then went and saw Marshal Virgil Earp
and notified him to the same effect. I then met Billy Allen and we
walked through the O.K. Corral, about fifty yards behind the sheriff.
On reaching Fremont street I saw Virgil Earp, Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp
and Doc Holliday, in the center of the street, all armed. I had reached
Bauer's meat market. Johnny Behan had just left the cowboys, after
having a conversation with them. I went along to Fly's photograph
gallery, when I heard Virg Earp say, "Give up your arms or throw up
your arms." There was some reply made by Frank McLowry, when firing
became general, over thirty shots being fired. Tom McLowry fell first,
but raised and fired again before he died. Bill Clanton fell next, and
raised to fire again when Mr. Fly took his revolver from him. Frank
McLowry ran a few rods and fell. Morgan Earp was shot through and fell.
Doc Holliday was hit in the left hip but kept on firing. Virgil Earp
was hit in the third or fourth fire, in the leg which staggered him but
he kept up his effective work. Wyatt Earp stood up and fired in rapid
succession, as cool as a cucumber, and was not hit. Doc Holliday was as
calm as though at target practice and fired rapidly. After the firing
was over, Sheriff Behan went up to Wyatt Earp and said, "I'll have to
arrest you." Wyatt replied: "I won't be arrested today. I am right here
and am not going away. You have deceived me. You told me these men were
disarmed; I went to disarm them."

This ends Mr. Coleman's story which in the most essential
particulars has been confirmed by others. Marshal Earp says that he and
his party met the Clantons and the McLowrys in the alleyway by the
McDonald place; he called to them to throw up their hands, that he had
come to disarm them. Instantaneously Bill Clanton and one of the
McLowrys fired, and then it became general. Mr. Earp says it was the
first shot from Frank McLowry that hit him. In other particulars his
statement does not materially differ from the statement above given.
Ike Clanton was not armed and ran across to Allen street and took
refuge in the dance hall there. The two McLowrys and Bill Clanton all
died within a few minutes after being shot. The Marshal was shot
through the calf of the right leg, the ball going clear through. His
brother, Morgan, was shot through the shoulders, the ball entering the
point of the right shoulder blade, following across the back,
shattering off a piece of one vertebrae and passing out the left
shoulder in about the same position that it entered the right. The
wound is dangerous but not necessarily fatal, and Virgil's is far more
painful than dangerous. Doc Holliday was hit upon the scabbard of his
pistol, the leather breaking the force of the ball so that no material
damage was done other than to make him limp a little in his walk.

Dr. Matthews impaneled a coroner's jury, who went and viewed
the bodies as they lay in the cabin in the rear of Dunbar's stables on
Fifth street, and then adjourned until 10 o'clock this morning.

The Alarm Given
The moment the word of the shooting reached the Vizina and Tough Nut
mines the whistles blew a shrill signal, and the miners came to the
surface, armed themselves, and poured into the town like an invading
army. A few moments served to bring out all the better portions of the
citizens, thoroughly armed and ready for any emergency. Precautions
were immediately taken to preserve law and order, even if they had to
fight for it. A guard of ten men were stationed around the county jail,
and extra policemen put on for the night.

Earp Brothers Justified
The feeling among the best class of our citizens is that the Marshal
was entirely justified in his efforts to disarm these men, and that
being fired upon they had to defend themselves, which they did most
bravely. So long as our peace officers make an effort to preserve the
peace and put down highway robbery -- which the Earp brothers have
done, having engaged in the pursuit and capture, where captures have
been made of every gang of stage robbers in the county -- they will
have the support of all good citizens. If the present lesson is
not sufficient to teach the cow-boy element that they cannot come into
the streets of Tombstone, in broad daylight, armed with six-shooters
and Henry rifles to hunt down their victims, then the citizens will
most assuredly take such steps to preserve the peace as will be forever
a bar to such raids.